The real monastic walks through life with a barefooted soul, alert, aware, grateful, and only partially at home. ~ Joan Chittister

Tuesday, February 05, 2013

Love Does Not Dishonor Others…

“The rules of the track work well for life.
Roller derby is life in a tiny circle. You can only go forward, even if you
find yourself turned around, facing the wrong way. There's speed,
unpredictability, and danger. You can't be sure what's going to happen, you
don't always know when you'll stop, and it appears most people are out to get
you. You will fall. You will get hurt. But you will get up again.” ~ Pamela
Ribon, Going in Circles

I almost forgot about today’s post,
but I’m getting it in just under the wire. You get extra videos tonight
(tomorrow?) to make up for it.

Here’s the truth: Love leaves us
vulnerable to being hurt, to being left, to being dishonored.

“When we were children, we used to think that
when we were grown-up we would no longer be vulnerable. But to grow up is to
accept vulnerability... To be alive is to be vulnerable.” ~ Madeleine L'Engle

Life will knock us down. Love pulls us back up,
if we’re brave enough to let it.

In the meantime, we own our own part.

We honor one another enough to be honest, to be
faithful, and (sometimes) even to be angry.

We honor one another when we remember there’s a
real person on the other side of our relationship, feelings and flaws and vulnerabilities
wrapped in flesh.

We honor one another when we commit to making
it work, rather than simply walking away (or worse).

We honor one another when, if necessary, we DO
walk away. We honor one another when we don’t allow ourselves to be dishonored.